Drainage gutter for railroad cars



1,550,734 K. F. NYSTRQM DRAINAGE GUTTER FOR RILROAD GARS Filed Dec. 20. 1923 Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES KARL F. NYSTROM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAINAGE GUTTER FOR RAILROAD CARS.

Application fil-ed December 20, 1923. Serial No. 681,761.

To all whom t may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, KARL F. NYsTRoM, a subject of Great Britain, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drainage Gutters for Railroad Cars, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of my specification.

My invention relates more particularly to the provision and formation of drainage gutters for the interior of railroad cars, for example, refrigerator cars, express cars, baggage cars and the like, whereby water in the main portion of the car, resulting when the car is being cleaned or from the melting of ice in which lading is packed, will be conveyed to the car exterior, o-r in refrigerator cars will be conveyed to the drip-pans in the bottoms of the ice bunkers or refrigerant holding chambers at the ends of the car; with the result that damage to the lading carried by the car will be obviated, while in the case of refrigerator cars damage tothe insulation in the walls of the car will also be prevented; and at the same time decay o-f the floor-boards and sheathing will be retarded.

The objects and advantages of my invention will be readily comprehended from the detailed description of the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a sectional plan of one end of a refrigerator car.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1 vlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 8 3 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the exe-mp-lication of my invention as disclosed in the drawing, its application to a refrigerator car has been illustrated.

Refrigerator cars, in addition to being pro-vided with ice bunkers or chambers at the ends thereof, as shown at 10 in Figure 1 adapted to usually hold a suitable container or basket in which the ice is stored, are frequently used for the transportation of lading which requires additional refrigeration which is effected by having ice laced in immediate contact with the lading and therefore within the lading receiving portion of the car; as for instance in the shipment of such commodities as lis-h, lettuce, etc., packing in immediate contaotwith ice 1s necessary.

The melting o-f the ice packed around the lading as above stated, causes the main portion of the car to be more or less filled with water due to lack of proper construction or means whereby the water may be readily drained from the car interior. The accumulation of water within the car proper not only frequently results in damage to the lading, but also results in the creation of odors which are apt to contaminate or affect the lading.

Furthermore, the constant accumulation of water on the Hoor of the car when not properly and promptly drained therefrom ultimately will result in decay of the floorboards as well as injury toI the car insulation by reason of its seepage through the sheathing of the car sides and through the joints between the floor-boards and the sheathing' into Contact with the insulating material with which the walls and the floors of refrigerator cars are usually provided.

My invention pertains to the provision of drainage gutters, as indicated at 11, 11, in the floor of the car and in the case of refrigerator cars preferably along the side walls of the car and extending toward the bulk-heads or partitions of the ice-holding chambers where the longitudinally disposed drainage gutters 11, 11 are preferably connected with or made continuous by means of a transversely disposed drainage gutter 12 arranged lengthwise of the bulk-heads or partitions of the ice-holding chambers of the car.

As refrigerator cars are usually provided with side-doors on both sides of the car and intermediate of the ends, the drainage gutters are preferably made to extend from the door-posts on both sides of the dooropenings toward opposite ends of the car. In Figure 1, I merely disclose one end of a car interior, which is shown in a more or less general manner; it being understood, of course, that the walls of the car are provided with suitable insulating material and the interior usually provided with sheathing as at 13 extending from the floor-boards 14 to the top of the car. rEhe floor-boards in refrigerator cars are usually placed on suitable insulating material arranged on a sub-floor and the ends of the floor timbers or elements supported by suitable floor timbers as for example at 15 in Figure 3. rIhe Cil longitudinally disposed gutters 11 are preferably formed by either gaining the ends of the floor-boards, or by having the floorboards, which are located intermediate of the door-posts and the bulk-heads or partitions of the ice chambers, cut away and preferably beveled as at 16 in Figure 3 in order to receive the gutter which is preferably formed of suitable water resisting plastic material or asphalt as shown at 1"". The space at the ends ol the floor-boards 1alis filled in with the plastic material or asphalt and the top surface cupped or given the cross sectional shape shown in Figure 3, namely with the sides of the gutters flaring outwardly. That is to say, the sides are preferably flared upwardly toward the sheathing 1B and toward the top surface of the floor-boards as shown; while the connecting drainage gutter 12 is arranged along the longitudinal edge of the floorboards adjacent to the bulk-head and in a plane beneath that of the upper surface of the floor-boards as shown in Figure 2. The partitions of the ice chambers or bulk-heads are usually formed so as to leave a sutlicient space or opening between the partition and the floor of the car to permit the cold air to circulate from the ice chambers into the lower part of the main portion of the refrigerator car.

In the construction illustrated in Figure 2, the bottom of the ice bunker is provided with a well or depression to receive a drippan which is partially shown at 1S. The drip-pan in this construction is located beneath the level of the floor of the main portion of the refrigerator car so as to prevent the water from the melting ice entering into the car proper through the air circulating opening beneath the partitions of the ice chambers. The transversely disposed drainage gutter 12 is also preferably formed of water resisting plastic material or asphalt and provided with a beveled or sloping side as at 19 along the longitudinal edge of the floor-board 14;. The gutter 1Q is arranged on the sub-timber Q0 which is preferably gained as shown in Figure 2 to receive the longitudinal edge of the drippan 18 and also to receive a portion of the plastic material or asphalt as sho vn at 21 arranged intermediate of the sides of the drip-pan 18 and the timber 20. The asphalt or plastic material is also formed to provide a projection or lip as at 22 disposed across the upper edge of the side of the drip-pan 18 as clearly shown in Figure 2 in order that the water from the gutter 12 will drain into the drip-pan, from whence it is discharged through the usual drain-tubes shown at 23 in Figure 1.

By arranging the drainage gutters as shown and described, a seal or water-tight joint between the floor and side walls of the car is provided which will prevent water seeping through the sheathing and beneath the floor-boards into contact with the insulating material, as, however, is the case with refrigerator cars as at present constructed and wherein damage to the insulaiiion results.

lllith my improved construction the water which results either from melting ice in the refrigerator ear proper or while the car is being washed or cleaned will find its way into the longitudinally disposed gutters 11, from whence it will discharge into the drippan 18, as well as into the transversely disposed drainage gutter 12. As a result, the floor of the car, as well as the insulation, is kept free from an accumulation of water so that damage to the lading will be avoided. By providing suitable drain and thus preventing an accumulation of water, the floor is lrept more or less dry as the tilting and jarring of the car in transit will cause the water to flow toward either side of the car as well as toward the ends thereof, lwhere it will be drained from the car by the gutters and discl'iarged into the drip-pans in the bottoms of the bunkers at the ends of the car; rotting of the floor-boards will thus be prevented and the creation of odors eliminated.

lllhere my invention is applied to other types of cars, for example express cars or baggage cars, the gutter or gutters are provided with suitable drains or outlets leading to the car exterior and the location of the gutters may be altered if desired. With the location of the gutters as shown in the drawing, the plastic material out of which the gutters are formed will seal the ends of the floor-boards and thus retard decay and by facing the material against the lower ends or portions of the sheathing, the water will be prevented from affecting the sheathing. The drainage gutters are preferably fashioned out of a plastic material or asphalt, not only so as to seal the ends of the floor-boards, but at the same time possess sutlicient yielding quality in order that its elliciency may not be aiected by the racking strains to which railroad cars are subjected.

1 have illustrated what I believe to be the simplest and best adaptation of the invention, which has been described in terms employed merely as terms of description and not as terms of limitation, because modifications are possible and may be made without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention.

1What 1 claim is 1. ln a refrigerator car provided with ice bunkers at the ends thereof, the floor-boards of the ear adjacent to the side sheathing of the car being formed to provide a groove disposed lengthwise on each side of the car,

and non-absorbent material arranged in each of said grooves in water-sealing relation with the floor-boards and the side sheathing and formed to provide drainage gutters in a plane beneath the top surface of the door-boards, with an end of each gutter arranged to drain into the ice-bunkers of the car.

2. In a refrigerator car provided with ice bunkers at the ends thereof having drippans arranged in a plane beneath that of the floor of the car proper, the floor-boards of the car adjacent to the side walls being gained, and non-absorbent yielding material arranged in the gains in water-sealing relation with the oor-boards and the side walls throughout the depth of the gains and cupped intermediate of the sides beneath the top surface of the floor-boards to provide drainage gutters extending lengthwise of the car, with the ends of the gutters arranged to drain into the drip-pans of the ice-bunkers.

3. In a refrigerator car with ice-bunkers at the ends thereof having depressed iioors provided with drip-pans, the up-standing sides whereof terminate in a plane beneath that of the upper surface of the Hoor-boards of the car proper, and drainage gutters of water resisting material arranged in the floor of the car proper adjacent to the side walls of the car and transversely of the car adjacent. to the drip-pans, the gutters being arranged in water-tight relation with the edges of the floor-boards and the side walls of the car and adapted to drain into the respective drip-pans of the ice-bunkers at the ends of the car.

t. In a refrigerator car with ice-bunkers at the ends thereof having depressed floors provided with drip-pans, the upstanding sides whereof are arranged beneath the upper surface of the floor-boards of the lading holding portion of the car, and drainage gutters of water-resisting plastic material moulded in the floor of the car adjacent to the side walls of the car and transversely of the car adjacent to the drip-pans, said material being dished and arranged in water-tight relation with the fioorboards, the oar-sides and the sides of the drip-pans, the gutters disposed lengthwise of the car connecting at the ends with the transversely disposed gutters, while the transversely disposed gutters are arranged to discharge into the drip-pans.

5. In a refrigerator car with ice-bunkers at the ends of the car having drip-pans arranged beneath the level of the upper surface of the floor-boards of the lading holding portion of the car, and drainage gutters of plastic water-resisting material moulded in the floor of the car adjacent to the side walls of the car and transversely of the car adjacent to the drip-pans, said material being dished and arranged in water-tight relation with the Hoor-boards, the car-sides and with the sides of the drip-pans, the gutters disposed lengthwise of the car connecting at the ends with the transversely disposed gutters, while the transversely disposed gutters are arranged to overlap the adjacent sides of the respective drip-pans.

6. In a refrigerator car with ice-bunkers at the ends of the car provided with drippans disposed beneath the level of the floor of the lading holding portion of the car, and plastic water-resisting material arranged at the juncture of the floor-boards and side wall sheathing of the car in watersealing relation therewith to provide water drains leading to the drip-pans of the iceb'unkers, said material being also arranged transversely of the car intermediate of the sides of the drip-pans and Hoor timbers, in lapping relation with the adjacent sides of the drip-pans and in sealing relation with the edges of the floor-boards, whereby water accumulating on the floor of the lading holding portion of the car will drain into the drip-pans.

7. In a railroad car, the floor-boards whereof are formed to provide a groove or channel adjacent to the side walls of the car and extending from the door-posts toward the ice-bunkers, the last mentioned ends of said groove or channels being connected by a transversely arranged gutter along the bottom of the ice-bunker with the side of the gutter adjacent to the ice-bunker being formed without a side wall, and molded water resisting. material arranged in said channel extending lengthwise of the car and in said transverse gutter to provide drainage gutters along both sides and adjacent to the ends communicating with the ice-bunker of the car.

KARL F. NYSTROM. 

